Bulgarian right wins election for parliament | Eastern NC Now

Both tradtional and populist conservatives gained seats in Bulgaria's parliamentary election, and while they have a majority between them, forming a coalition is expected to be difficult.  Of the 240 seats in the Bulgarian parliament, the traditional conserver GERB party of outgoing prime minister Borisov won 69 weats, a gain of 1.  Three populist nationalist right parties won 65 seats between them, a gain of 11.

GERB's longtime rival, the centrist pro-EU We Continue the Change won 37 seats, a loss of 2.  The United Left won 20 seats, a gain of 1.  Two parties that represent the Turkish minority, which are center to center-right won a total of 49 seats, a gain of 2.  The previous parliament had quite a few independents, but none were elected in this election.  "None of the above" won 3.28% of the vote

The biggest gains were of the populist nationalist right, which was represented by three parties.  The largest, the ultra-nationalist eurosceptic Revival won 35 seats, a loss of 3,  while the populist nationalist  eurosceptic There is Such a People won 18 seats, a gain of 2, and the new populist conservative mildly eurosceptic Morale, Unity, Honor, won its first election to parliament with 12 seats.

Overall, 28 parties plus independents competed in the election, but most parties fell far short of the 4% required for a party to win seats in parliament.  The only near miss among them was the new populist nationalist right Velichie Party which had originally been organized to fight against the construction of wind turbines and only narrowly failed to reach the 4% threshold.